Photo: CCTV/Mattias Grafström (left) and Zhang Jiasheng, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China.
The deal covers the 2026 and 2030 men’s World Cups and the 2027 and 2031 women’s tournaments, writes Reuters. The rights were acquired by China Media Group, China’s largest state-owned media holding, which controls the CCTV television channel. The agreement was officially announced by the parties, but financial details were not publicly disclosed. They were later cited by Chinese publication The Paper, which reported on months of negotiations and hard bargaining between Beijing and FIFA.
According to the newspaper, FIFA initially estimated the Chinese package at $250-300 million, then lowered expectations to $120-150 million. However, CCTV insisted on a much lower price and offered no more than $60-80 million. In the end, the federation had to agree to a sum close to the Chinese estimate.
China remains one of the most important markets for FIFA, despite the national team’s modest success. The country’s men’s national team has played only once at the World Cup – in 2002. At the same time, the audience of soccer fans in China is estimated at about 200 million people, which makes China the largest soccer TV market in the world. China’s women’s national team has achieved much better results: the team has played at the World Cup eight times and reached the final of the tournament in 1999.
Secretary General Mattias Grafström emphasized that the partnership with CMG is of strategic importance for world soccer. According to him, FIFA is delighted to be able to provide Chinese fans with access to the biggest sporting event on the planet.
The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. The tournament will be the largest in history: the number of participants will increase from 32 to 48 national teams, and the number of matches will grow to 104. The opening round will be held in Mexico City at Azteca Stadium, the final will be hosted by MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and the third-place game will be held in Miami.
